Why did Desiderius Erasmus ask his printer not to confuse his work with Martin Luther’s?

In 1518, the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus privately instructed his printer, Froben, to cease printing works by Martin Luther to prevent their respective causes from being confused.1

Erasmus took this action because he was concerned about the political and religious fallout of the Reformation. While he initially found much to admire in Luther’s early writings, he was aware that his clerical foes were already blaming him for inspiring Luther’s challenge to papal authority. By distancing his own work from Luther’s, Erasmus hoped to avoid a destructive confrontation that he believed would harm the advancement of "good letters" and scholarship.1